Beat-up means for looms



April 7, 1964 M. c. MOSHER 3,127,912

BEAT-UP MEANS FOR LOOMS Filed Sept. 8, 1961 wmm I L 45 lNVENTOR MELVILLEO. MOSHER MM ATTORNEY 72 United States Patent O 3,127,912 BEAT-UP MEANSFQR LOQMS Melville C. Mosher, Hopedale, Mass, assign'or to (Iromptan 8;Knowles Corporation, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of MassachusettsFiled Sept. 8, 1961, Ser. No. 136,866 6 Claims. (Cl. 139191) Thisinvention relates to looms and more particularly relates to improvementsin beat-up means for looms operating at very high speeds.

One type of loom, of the class weaving ribbons or tapes, that has goneinto extensive commercial use employs a rocking reed and supporttherefor which is pivoted at its lower end and operatively connected toa drive crank or ,cam remote from the reed support such that during loomoperation the support is moved about its pivot along an arcuate path toits extreme forward position, whereat it momentarily stops and is thenreversed to its extreme back position along the same path with theresultant disadvantage of setting up impact forces upon reversal whichcauses excessive vibration when attempting to operate at very highspeeds.

Another type of loom utilizes a rotary reed supported on a rotatingshaft below a shed formed by warp threads and must be of a certaindiameter in order to remain in registry with the threads. Because of thediameter, the warp moving harness frames must be located rearwardly ofthe fabric woven sufficiently to clear the rotary reed with thedisadvantage that the warp threads, in forming sheds, must be raised andlowered a greater distance than when the harness frames are nearer thefabric. This disadvantage increases the depth of the loom and placesundue strain on the warp threads since the harness frames must move agreater distance in the same time to form the same size shed as to thepresent harness frames which can be located nearer the fabric because ofthe type of reed herein used and the manner in which it is supported.

Accordingly, therefore, it is an important object of the invention toovercome the disadvantages mentioned above by mounting the reed and itssupport for rotational oscillation back and forth along a continuouscurvilinear path without momentarily stopping the support and withoutincreasing the depth of the loom.

Another object of the invention is to mount the support directly on arotating crankshaft whereby a combined rotating and oscillating motionis imparted to the reed and the reed beat-up point to effect movement ofthe latter in an elliptical path to beat up the weft while maintainingconstant registry between the reed and the warp threads.

Another object of the invention is to provide control means between thesupport and a fixed part of the loom to permit vertical oscillation ofthe support during rota- .tion of the crankshaft.

3,127,912 Patented Apr. 7, 1964 "ice A further object of the inventionis to mount the control means in such a manner that rotation of thecrankshaft will elfect rocking of the control means in synchronism withthe crankshaft to produce rotational oscillation of the reed and itssupport.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a counterbalanceoperatively connected to the crankshaft to smooth out the rotationaloscillation of the support while at the same time minimizing vibrationthereof.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood reference is madeto the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example theembodiments of the invention and in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial side elevational view of a loom having the inventionapplied thereto,

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation looking in the direction of arrow 2, FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a horizontal cross section taken on lines 33 of FIG. 2, and

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken on lines 4-4, FIG. 3.

In carrying the present invention into effect, reference is made toFIGS. 1 and 2 wherein a loom frame base 1 supports a housing 2 in whicha convenient drive mechanism is located but not shown. The drivemechanism is operatively connected to a jack shaft 3 which mounts apulley 4 around which a timing chain or belt 5 is trained. Belt 5extends rearwardly for connection with a pulley 6 on a shaft generallydesignated at 7 which mounts a reed support 8, to be further describedhereinafter.

The base 1 supports a pair of harness frameguides 9 each of which isprovided with forward and rear legs 11 and 12 respectively, these legsbeing bolted to the base 1 by bolts 13, only one of which is shown inFIG. 1. A set of harness frames 14, 15, 16 and 17 are guidingly mountedbetween guides 9 and are raised and lowered by their respectiveconnectors 18, 19, 20 and 21. These connectors may be operated forinstance by cams not shown but well understood in the art. Raising andlowering of the harness frames will cause warp threads 23 and 24 to formsheds 25, one of which is sown at FIG. 1, for the insertion of a weftthread shown in dotted lines as at 26. It is to be understood, ofcourse, that the warp sheds will be formed by a so-called sheet orseries of warp threads equal to the width of the fabric being woven, andit is deemed sufficient here to merely show a warp thread 23 and a warpthread 24 which are indicative of the upper and lower positions the warpsheets will attain during shed forming operations. The harness frames14-17 will be periodically raised and lowered to form successive warpsheds for the insertion of the weft thread 26 therethrough.

Referring to shaft 7, one end 27 thereof is suitably retained in a pairof bearings 28 and 29, see FIG. 3, properly journaled in a bearing meansor stand 30.fixed to the housing 2 as by bolts 32 and 33 passing throughbearing stand arm 34, as can readily be seen in FIG. 2. The other end ofshaft 7 is provided with a crank 35a having an offset wrist 35 whichmounts a pair of bearings 36 and 37 on which support 8 is looselymounted for rotation.

The upper end of support 8 is provided with a transverse extension 40,see FIG. 2, which has attached thereto, as by bolts 41, a reed holder 42which in turn supports a vertical reed generally designated as at R. Thereed terminates at a point above warp threads 23 and 24 such the spiritand scope of the invention.

that said point is constantly above the sheds formed by the warpthreads. The lower end of support 8 is operatively connected to controlmeans in the form of a rocking lever 44 having one end thereof pivotedas at 45 to support 8 and the other end pivotally mounted as at 46 to astationary part of the loom 47 attached to the housing 2 by bolts 48 and49.

Wrist .35 carries a pair of counterbalance weights SI and 52 closelyadjacent to support 8, see FIGURE 3. As can be seen clearly in FIG. 3,Weight 51 on the left side of support 8 is an integral part of wrist 35while weight 52 on the right side of support 8 is detachably connectedto the wrist by a key 53 and a nut 54 threaded onto the end of theWrist. The counterbalance weights are mounted with respect to thesupport 8 such that when the reed is in its extremely forward position,see FIG. 1, the weights will be in the extreme back position and,conversely, when the reed is in its back position the weights will be intheir forward position.

During loom operation, jack shaft 3 will be driven to effect rotation ofshaft 7 clockwise to impart rotation to wrist 35 thereby tending torotate support 8 therewith in a true circle about the axis of shaft 7due to the mounting of support 8 on wrist 35. Because of and duringrotation of shaft 7, lever 44 will be given a rocking motion by thesupport 3 to reciprocate or oscillate support 8 with respect to wrist 35during rotation thereof to modify rotation of said support in said truecircle to effect a combined rotating and oscillating motion of thesupport in a path other than said true circle to beat up the weft. Shaft7 is in the form of a crankshaft and may be considered as single meansto effect said combined rotating and oscillating motion.

The combined rotating and oscillating motion will move the reed in acurvilinear or elliptical path and will also move the beat-up point 60of the reed in the same path. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the beat-uppoint will move in the direction of the arrow a and a path 61represented by dotted lines. This will be true of any point on the reedsince, as can be seen in FIG. 1, the reed bar 63 will move also in acurvilinear and elliptical path in the direction of arrow 11 and asindicated by the dot and dash lines 64 in FIG. 1. It is to be understoodthat the direction of rotation of the beat-up point 60 may be in theopposite direction from that shown in FIG. 1 without departing from Itwill also be noted that during the rotational movement of the reed, itremains in registry with the warp threads while being movedsubstantially in upright position during loom operation. The rotationaloscillation of the reed is continuous in that there is no stopping atreversal to produce impact forces as mentioned hereinbefore.

The type of loom contemplated herein will operate at very high speeds orpicks per minute with a minimum of vibration due to the counterbalanceweights and uninterrupted path which the beat-up point 60 follows duringloom operation.

From the foregoing it will be seen that simple means have been providedto operate the reed and its support rotationally while in substantiallyvertical position to effect very high speed operation of the loom.Further,

it will be seen that simple means have been provided to rotationallyoscillate the reed and its support by use of dual motions wherein one ofsaid motions is of a charac ter dissimilar to the other, that is, onemotion being rotational and the other oscillating with both motionsoperating in synchronism with each other to produce a combined rotatingand oscillating reed motion without losing registry of the reed with anyof the warp threads.

4 Further it will be seen that simple means have been provided to smoothout the combined rotating and oscillating motion and to minimizevibration of the reed and its support during loom operation.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of theinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, what isclaimed is:

1. In a beat-up motion for a loom operating with warp threads forinsertion of weft therein a weft beat-up reed having a part extendingabove said threads and in constant registry therewith, a shaft formedwith a wrist at one end thereon, an upright support for the reedjournaled on the wrist for rotational oscillation about the axis of saidshaft to a forward and back position during loom operation, rockingmeans between the support and a fixed part of the loom to causeoscillation of the support during rotation thereof, and counterbalancemeans directly on said wrist to minimize vibration of said reed andsupport to effect smooth operation thereof during loom operation, saidpart of said reed being constantly above said threads so as to maintainregistry therewith.

2. The loom set forth in claim 1 wherein said counterbalance meansinclude weight means mounted on said wrists such that when said supportis in said forward position said weight means will be in back position,and conversely, when said reed is in back position said weight meanswill be in forward position.

3. The loom set forth in claim 1 wherein said counterbalance meansincludes two weights on said wrists, one weight being on one side ofsaid support means and the other Weight being on the opposite side.

' 4. The loom set forth in claim 3 wherein said one weight is anintegral part of said wrist and said other weight is removably attachedthereto.

5. In a beat-up mechanism for a loom, a weft beat-up reed, a shafthaving on one of its ends a crank means including a wrist pin locatedbelow said reed, bearing means for the shaft and having one end thereofadjacent to said crank means, drive means for the shaft connected to apart of the shaft extending from the other end of said bearing meansopposite said crank means, a support for the reed journaled on saidwrist pin for angular movement relative thereto, rocking means pivotallyconnected between the support and a fixed part of the loom below saidwrist pin and cooperating with the latter when the shaft rotates toreciprocate the support and reed between front and back and also betweentop and bottom positions, and counterbalance means near said one end ofsaid bearing means closely adjacent to said support and fixed directlyto said crank means and effective to minimize vibration caused byreciprocation of said support and reed to provide smooth operationthereof during loom operation.

6. In a mechanism as set forth in claim 5, said counterbalance meansincluding two counterbalance weights attached to the crank means andlocated on opposite sides of said support and on the same side of saidbearing means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS503,457 Emery Aug. 15, 1893 972,835 Eilhauer Oct. 18, 1910 2,013,230Best Sept. 3, 1935 2,380,798 Shimwell July 31, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS1,077,531 France May 5, 1954

1. IN A BEAT-UP MOTION FOR A LOOM OPERATING WITH WRAP THREADS FORINSERTION OF WEFT THEREIN A WEFT BEAT-UP REED HAVING A PART EXTENDINGABOVE SAID THREADS AND IN CONSTANT REGISTRY THEREWITH, A SHAFT FORMEDWITH A WRIST AT ONE END THEREON, AN UPRIGHT SUPPORT FOR THE REEDJOURNALED ON THE WRIST FOR ROTATIONAL OSCILLATION ABOUT THE AXIS OF SAIDSHAFT TO A FORWARD AND BACK POSITION DURING LOOM OPERATION, ROCKINGMEANS BETWEEN THE SUPPORT AND A FIXED PART OF THE LOOM TO CAUSEOSCILLATION OF THE SUPPORT DURING ROTATION THEREOF, AND COUNTERBALANCEMEANS DIRECTLY ON SAID WRIST TO MINIMIZE VIBRATION OF SAID REED ANDSUPPORT TO EFFECT SMOOTH OPERATION THEREOF DURING LOOM OPERATION, SAIDPART OF SAID REED BEING CONSTANTLY ABOVE SAID THREADS SO AS TO MAINTAINREGISTRY THEREWITH.